Andrew Bayly: Justice Select Committee Chair on the possibility of introducing four-year parliamentary terms

A referendum on increasing the parliamentary term to four years is looking highly likely. 

This is despite a Select Committee Report confirming ACT - who proposed the bill - will only support it if stronger checks and balances are built into the system.

This includes more powers to the opposition in committees.

But Justice Select Committee Chair Andrew Bayly says they're suggesting possible dates. 

"It's had almost unanimous agreement across the Committee that we should put it to referendum - the question is when."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Afternoon. Looks like we're getting closer to a referendum on
the four year term for governments. The Justice Select Committee
has recommended stripping out some of the more complicated parts
of this particular law, which is caused David Seymour, who
actually sponsored the law, to walk away from supporting it.
But it does seem that every other party in Parliament
still supports it. Andrew Bailey is the chair of the
Justice Select Committee and with us Hey Andrew Hello is

(00:21):
the National Party going to vote for this.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Oh, look, that's a decision for a caucus, but it's
had almost unanimous agreement across the committee that we should
put it to a referendum. The question is.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
When twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well, from a committee perspective, we suggested both twenty twenty
six or twenty twenty nine, but we did note that
if you want to try and do it next year,
it's the government's call whether it might at the coup
of issues. Significant issues one is that how do you
coincide central central government elections alongside local council elections under

(01:00):
the proposed term that was going to be bearable, so
they might end up having elections in the same year
and the second thing, there's quite a large reform of
electoral laws going through that the committee's looking at the moment,
and so we've said, given that and the capacity issues
within Electoral Commission to be able to handle all that,
we just said, if you want to do it next year,

(01:22):
there will be challenging.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Okay, so more likely twenty twenty nine. Then what checks
are you putting in to replace what you've stripped out?
Read the select committees?

Speaker 2 (01:31):
We haven't. The issue was did the proposal in the
bill work? And there are a lot of submitters who
said that it wouldn't, and the committee came to a
view apart from active one. It came to a view
that the complicated structure around the different types of committee

(01:52):
arrangements just wouldn't work under that situation. That doesn't mean
that a future government might look at other options it,
but I think the central theme around whether we should
have a referendum on three year or four year term
more centers around the issue around is it more effective
for governments and ministers are able to do their job

(02:12):
in that longer term. And one might argue that if
it is a four year term, maybe it's more lucky
that governments get turfed out after only one term of
four years rather than three years.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Which are you arguing, Are you arguing you don't need
any more checks, you don't need to add in a
new layer of checks.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
No, I'm not arguing that. I'm just saying the committee
we had to consider the bill that was in front
of us and that had a certain proposal in it
which the Committee came to a view that was too complicated.
So on that basis we couldn't support it. That doesn't
mean that might be other ways to look at.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Do you think that there should be if we extend
it from three to four years, we should add another.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Check in you asked me personally, Well, that's a different thing.
I can say what the committee's view on it. I
think personally i'd think it's benefit about having a four
year term. But you know, there's a lot of different
views on that. But the issue is, I think the
central issues whether we get more effective government around having

(03:11):
a longer term.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Okay, hey, Andrew, thanks very much, appreciate it. Andrew Bailey,
chair of the Justice Select Committee. For more from Hither
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